LSRO: Chapter 352 - Specific Frequency

Hiiiii there

Got through 2 chapters of edits so this is the first post of two!

TADAAAAA

Look at that.

Regular chapters will post as of tomorrow again!

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Chapter 15

Specific Frequency

Quinn’s slumber was, for once, uninterrupted. No strange dreams, no dream walking and certainly no nightmares. At least not that night. She slept so well that when she woke, after only seven hours, it was early morning and she felt well rested. Stretching languidly, she blinked her eyes. 

Aradie perched in her usual place, still asleep. In the bed, next to Quinn, was a tome.

Quinn pushed herself up and reached for it, hesitating for a second. There had been books infected with many things. The last thing she wanted was for something to infect her. She did her best to push out her magic and feel the book for any signs of danger, but nothing spoke to her. “If this bites me, Aradie, know that I tried to make sure it wouldn’t hurt me before I opened it,” Quinn murmured under her breath as her curiosity overtook her.

Aradie barely rumbled a hoot before Quinn’s hands were on the tome. She turned it over, the title in filigree style on the hardbound front cover, gold winking up at her in the dawning light of her room.

Kevin’s Understanding of how the Superellux Futura Smile: a study of Emotive Interpretation.

Quinn blinked at the book, but the name remained the same no matter how many times she attempted to clear her vision. She frowned and ran her fingers over the title, flipped the cover and made sure there was writing on the pages. It didn’t seem to be a prank. “Kevin...” Then she shrugged. If nothing else, the universe had shown her some fantastical things. Surely it was also okay for there to be some more mundane ones. Taking another glance at her owl, who really was a far earlier riser than Quinn, and another check of the Library time, Quinn decided she could afford to read a bit. Perhaps it’d help her understand Dottie’s expressions more.

The author wrote the text straightforwardly, with many case studies and examples. Benches weren’t the only type, which Quinn knew, and yet... She was surprised to see desks and beds and that every single type of superellux futora displayed different emotional cues. For now, Quinn decided it best to concentrate on the bench.

Aradie hooted, pulling her out of the text. She shot the owl a look of apathy. How much did Quinn not want to go down into the Library and do what she knew needed to be done? A whole damn lot. But she also knew she was the only one who could do some of these things, and that if she didn’t hop to it, Aradie was likely to peck her ear bloody.

She put the book on her nightstand and got ready. The plush feel of her jumper mimicked the cloudy sensations of her bed. At least that was something. 

Quinn warped directly into her office, ignoring any memory of what the Library might have to say about that. When all this was done, she’d have no problem with walking everywhere and not warping for weeks at a time, but right now, if she could cut a corner while endangering nothing but her cholesterol ... she was going to do it. Time was sort of of the essence.

Her office was, blessedly, empty. Not for long, though. Five minutes later, Aradie flew through the door, setting a coffee and pastry on her desk with a smug hoot. Then she took herself off to her perch and preened.

Sitting in her massive chair, Quinn curled up and bit into the croissant, letting chocolate drip out of it while she sipped at her coffee. That first bite was all she really got.

Lynx was the first to pop into view. He raised an eyebrow and offered a tight smile. “You’re awake. Are you sure you don’t need more sleep? I didn’t expect you this fast.”

Quinn studies him and shrugs. “I woke up into that completely awake state. You know the one? There’s no way I’m getting back to sleep now as is. May as well do something constructive.”

Just as Quinn finished speaking, Drevicia popped into place too, glancing at her. “Good, you’re eating. You have a tendency to forget that."

Taking a deep breath, Quinn almost commented on this new penchant for stating the bleeding obvious but thought better of it. Nothing would come of a petty argument anyway. “Figured I needed sleep and sustenance to get through the next however long we need.”

Milaro and Malakai took that moment to knock, open the door, and enter without waiting for an answer. Quinn couldn’t even be bothered glaring at them. She did, however, raise an eyebrow and ambush them. “Just what exactly were you doing last night when you both took off?”

Milaro glanced at Malakai, who just shrugged. His grandfather cleared his throat. “Well, Nishpa needed to figure out a few things about Areiltháhnish heritage, and the only ones she trusts are us.”

Quinn wasn’t insensitive enough to ask why Malakai had to go. She figured his status as both Areiltháhnish and darigháhnish meant there were components she could examine easier. “And is there anything she’s managed to figure out that we can use yet?”

Milaro hesitated and then sighed. “She’s worried about the effect of the specific DNA of our species with regard to the Library’s protections. Sometimes she can skim thoughts; sometimes, thoughts are loud enough to reach her without her even trying. There were murmurs... rumors. It’s just one avenue we’ve looked into. Nothing really came of it.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works. They need to genetically engineer it to match a specific frequency and signature, and no one will know the precise amounts that go into Quinn’s genetic makeup, so the odds of them actually mimicking hers are next to none.

Milaro nodded. “Precisely. With the research I did before the event, I was fairly certain, but there are brighter minds out there than mine, and Nishpa wanted to make sure we’d covered all the bases.”

Quinn popped the last morsel of the croissant into her mouth and munched on it while Hal pulled Milaro aside and Malakai approached to sit on his usual perch at the end of her desk. 

“You look like you actually slept,” he remarked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

“I did. On pain of death from Cook, actually.”

“That’s excellent.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow. “So you want me to die?”

“Prefer you to live, for which you need sleep.”

“Touché!” Quinn smiled. It’d been strange without Malakai there beside her. They spent so much time together it was rare now for them to be apart. She coughed, wanting to move the meeting along.

Hal clapped his hands, startling most of them. The grin he wore left no illusions that it had been his intention. “Right. We all need to check our respective areas, right?” Everyone nodded, but before he could continue, Eric burst into the room, slightly out of breath.

“I’m fashionably late! But I’m here! You may continue.” His smug expression was slightly ruined because he was still panting. Hal leveled a look at him, and the imp paled somewhat. 

“As I was saying,” the satyr continued. “It’s probably a good idea to start every day out catching up with what we’ve got so far. It’ll help us coordinate our efforts better.”

Quinn listened while they spoke, at least she did with a part of her mind, but she couldn’t help feeling as if something was wrong. Sure, their plans made sense. It was a long list, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d missed a clue or a hint, something very important.

Eric’s next statement pulled her out of her darker thoughts. “Geneva and I will leave to retrieve the books shortly. We grabbed a couple yesterday but... we might need reinforcements at some stage.” He eyed both Hal and Quinn as he spoke. “Dottie has the Library under control. Betty should be in this afternoon.”

Quinn wasn’t sure why, but she breathed a sigh of relief at the news. She’d been concerned about her supervisor. Anything could happen to any of them. It was better for them to stick together. “Make sure you take others with you? Finn or Danio perhaps, any of the other assistants?” The Ilgonomur or the centaur had been in the Library the longest and thus the best choices in her book, but perhaps Eric felt otherwise. She didn’t want to admit that she’d not paid attention to any of their assistants in the longest time.

Eric eyed her quizzically. “I mean, sure, but you can try to pry Finn from overseeing the controlled study areas,” the imp shrugged. “I’m as brave as any of you, but I don’t know that I’m that brave.”

Malakai snorted. “I’ll second that. Finn has taken the impromptu position you gave him seriously.”

She hadn’t realized how much of an impact that random decision had made. “Oh, just make sure you take backup with you. I don’t want any of us undertaking retrievals or scouting alone.” Nods were the only response, as if her directions were a given. And perhaps they were. They’d all learned that trust wasn’t a given.

Carafax’s words echoed in her ears. To know who to trust. Even now, she still couldn’t be certain.

Drevicia sighed, cast a questioning glance over to Lynx, and then cleared its throat. “We... seem to have found several red flags in our endeavor to restore myself.”

Hal raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall. “Do tell? How successful have you been?”

“Ah, yes, that’s the question, right?” Drevicia seemed uncomfortable, almost as if it wasn’t sure it could trust everyone in the room.

Quinn felt a sudden epiphany. “You haven’t reintegrated yourself yet, have you?”

The Library winced. “Mostly, but no, not completely yet.”

“Dare I ask why?” Quinn tried to keep her tone neutral, even though many levels of panic tried to rise and choke her.

“I have to make sure I don’t leave any information behind.” The Library grimaced and then continued, as if knowing it needed to explain further. “I don’t want to accidentally damage the system. Reintegrating the portion of my psyche that was splintered, especially after so long, is difficult. It’s grown into its own entity in a way. Stealthily undermining several subroutines and maintenance areas. The memories that I’m having trouble retrieving all seem to be tied to this too. There’s a lot more going on than I initially realized. So we’re close, but just not quite there yet.”

“Is there anything that can help us?” Quinn asked gently, pushing her own frustration at the situation down. She couldn’t even imagine how bad it was for Drevicia.

The Library shrugged. “There are hints of communications that I don’t recall making. But that couldn’t have been anyone other than myself. I’m not yet certain about it yet, but it doesn’t appear as if I’m misreading the situation...”

It was so obvious Drevicia didn’t want to tell them yet, and Lynx harrumphed next to it. “Spit it out. It won’t offend anyone here, even if you think it might.”

Drevicia scowled at him.

Lynx rolled his eyes and ploughed on. “The communications we’ve retrieved were sent via the Library’s personal communication channels. Right now, we aren’t a hundred percent certain they originated from it, but the odds it didn’t are very low.”

“Just out with it.” Hal snapped, his eyes more fire than blood for once, patience thin.

“I think I know the answer to this.” Milaro sighed and let himself fall into one of the armchairs. He let his head fall into his hands, elbows braced on his knees, and let out a long breath.

Quinn watched and waited, like the rest of them, interest piqued. 

“Ardenil and Arnekai, right?” He asked, his voice soft, as he mentioned his in-laws.

“More than that.” Lynx’s tone was gentle, but held a steely resolve. “But the same gist. All of them. All along.”

~~

Look at that. Instead of just saying she's going to read about something, she actually did it!

Much love

KT